Trainer Liam Howley breathed a sigh of relief after El Poder Del Sol finally showed his true colours at Geelong.He has never made any secret of the regard he has for the son of Almanzor, but the three-year-old who carries our colours has frustrated rather than delivered up until his victory romp over 2200 metres under Jason Maskiell.“That was a very pleasing win and I said to Jason pre-race that we were racing for our credibility,” Howley said.“We’ve both had a huge opinion of this horse the whole way along and we’ve been backed by some great stable supporters like Cambridge Stud, Ben Kwok and Steve Foti.“We just felt he needed that bit of extra time, he’d been doing some good work but just wasn’t finishing off, so it was great to see him get out there and do it.”El Poder Del Sol had finished third on a heavy track at his previous appearance at Geelong and was dynamic on the good surface on his return to come from back in the field to win with authority and press his claims for a black-type challenge.The Listed VRC St Leger over 2800 metres at Flemington on Anzac Day is a likely option for the colt.“It’s on the radar and in time will make a natural stayer, just like his brother, and he covers the ground well and has got a big set of lungs,” Howley said.El Poder Del Sol’s sibling is Virtuous Circle, a two-time winner and also runner-up in the G1 Australian Derby.Their dam is the stakes performed Stryker mare She Is Stryking, who has an unraced yearling filly by Hello Youmzain.

Homebred mare Zantabulous turned her racing fortunes around to advance her record with a tidy winning performance at Te Rapa.The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained four-year-old was aided by a good ride from Wiremu Pinn to put away her Rating 75 rivals over 1600 metres.Zantabulous broke well to settle handy near the fence and, when the field fanned away from the rail at the top of the straight, she came through to challenge and was too good in the run to the post. “It’s great to see her back in the winner’s circle and another nice ride from Wiremu,” Walker said.“She’s had a few issues along the way, but it was a promising win and it looks like she’s in for a good autumn and early part of the winter.“I think she’ll only improve once we get up over more distance.”She has been patiently handled and has now won three of her 10 starts and looks more than capable of making her way further through the grades.The grey mare also completed a strong weekend for our shuttle stallion Almanzor, whose sons Circle Of Fire and Athabascan quinellaed the G1 Sydney Cup while Asgard was successful at Otaki in the manner of a horse to follow over more ground.Zantabulous was bought out of our draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale in 2021 by Te Akau chief David Ellis for $220,000.She is a daughter of the Zabeel mare Zantelagh, who had a filly by Hello Youmzain last season, and her dam is the G1 Oakleigh Plate winner and multiple elite level placegetter Dantelagh.

Almanzor’s ability to leave top class distance performers was again emphasised at Randwick where his sons Circle Of Fire and Athabascan dominated the finish of the G1 Sydney Cup.The Ciaron Maher-trained Circle Of Fire claimed top honours and completed his rapid rise to the top of the staying ranks since his arrival in Australia.He had finished fourth in his first two appearances before producing the perfect Cup lead-up when he triumphed in the G2 Chairman’s Quality over 2600 metres.“I can’t thank my team and the owners enough, they’ve done a great job to get a horse in this condition to do it seven days apart, it’s some effort,” Maher said.Circle Of Fire had few favours in the run under Hong Kong-based rider Andrea Atzeni and was caught wide without cover near the pace, but the four-year-old was resolute in the straight to have two lengths on a gallant Athabascan at the post.“The plan was to get into a nice rhythm with a bit of cover. He raced very keen last time so we wanted to get in behind something,” Atzeni said.“Wherever he landed I wanted to get cover. I tried early on to get in behind something and I couldn’t, so I went forward.“He did it the hard way, so I didn’t know if he had a lot left in the tank. To be fair to the horse, he dug deep when the second horse came to him and the further he went, the better he was.”Circle Of Fire is a half-brother to the G3 San Francisco Mile winner Evening Sun with their dam the Galileo mare Fiery Sunset, who won at 2400 metres.He began his career in the colours of The Queen from the Newmarket stable of champion trainer Sir Michael Stoute and recorded a win and three stakes placings from six starts before relocating to Australia.